1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to checkout counters of the type used in supermarkets, department stores and other retail facilities. In particular, the present invention relates to checkout counters designed for use with security and payment equipment which permits a customer to conduct price scans and enter payment without the assistance of a cashier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art teaches a variety of constructions for checkout counters of the type used in supermarkets, department stores and similar retail facilities. Generally, a checkout counter is characterized by an elongated counter having a horizontal conveyor for moving articles from an intake end to a cashier's location. Typically, a uniform price code (UPC) reader is embedded in the counter adjacent the cashier's location at the discharge end of the conveyor. The counter usually also includes a package area rearwardly from the cashier's location. Such checkout counters are constructed from modules which are made separately by the manufacturer and then assembled together during installation at the retail facility. Of course, the type of checkout counter described above is designed for use by a full-time cashier.
Recently, there have been suggestions for the use of checkout counters which permit the customer to conduct the UPC price scans and enter payment entirely without the assistance of a cashier. One such self-checkout counter is marketed by Productivity Solutions Incorporated of Jacksonville, Florida. Self-checkout counters have unusual requirements. For example, special security equipment must be supported by the counter above and below the conveyor and counter surface. The security equipment presently used in these applications is significantly more sensitive than the electric motors, belt drives and the like within a conventional checkout counter, and therefore the construction of a self-checkout counter must be both rigid and not susceptible to misalignment. Further, the security equipment used in self-checkout counters requires periodic calibration and maintenance, and ease of access to the internal security equipment is an important factor.